VTOL Tail-Sitter Operations Manual
Document: RFD-OM-001 · Version: v0.7 (DRAFT — release candidate) · Owner / Approver: Joni Sytsma (Chief Remote Pilot & Chief Maintenance Officer) · Status: UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED · See Document Control. Applies to: the RFD-approved PX4 firmware and parameter release delivered with your aircraft — the released manual states the firmware version it matches (see Firmware & Software Updates).
This is the operations manual for the Rocket Fast Drones (RFD) VTOL tail-sitter family — single-propeller, thrust-vector-controlled (TVC) tail-sitter aircraft that take off, hover and land on their tail, and cruise on a fixed wing. Part A covers everything common to the family; Part B carries the per-aircraft data. A companion Training Manual covers the flight-training syllabus.
Read before your first flight
Section titled “Read before your first flight”The documentation set, in reading order:
| # | Document | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Safety & Regulatory | The safety ground rules and your obligations as operator |
| 2 | Limitations + your aircraft’s Part B limits table | The hard envelope — never exceed |
| 3 | A Typical Flight | The one-page mental model of a normal sortie |
| 4 | This manual, cover to cover | The full procedures — read entirely at least once |
| 5 | Quick-Reference Checklists | Print and laminate; fly with these |
| 6 | Training Manual | The syllabus your RFD-trained pilot follows |
The family
Section titled “The family”| Aircraft | Propulsion | Duct | Status | Typical role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP250 | Ducted contra-rotating coaxial | Ducted | Flight-tested [V] (~140 km/h, 15 km range) |
Logistics / ISR, supplied tube-in-box |
| EP450 | Single open prop + TVC vanes | Ductless | PCU flown; winged config SITL-validated [S] |
Longer-range logistics |
Both share the Ø120 mm bayonet fuselage, avionics stack, transport-tube form factor, PX4 flight stack, the RFD ground control station, and the standardised Ø120 mm bayonet payload interface. They differ in propulsion, wing, and performance — see Part B.
Claim discipline (applies throughout)
Section titled “Claim discipline (applies throughout)”Every performance figure carries a provenance tag. Read it before quoting any number.
[V]Verified — flight- or bench-demonstrated on hardware.[S]Simulated — real-time PX4/Gazebo software-in-the-loop (SITL), not accelerated time.[E]Estimate — validated engineering model (bench/SITL-calibrated).
The EP250 has real flight data; most EP450 winged performance is [S]/[E] pending flight test.
Do not present simulated/estimated figures as demonstrated in customer-facing material.
Contents
Section titled “Contents”Part A — Family (all aircraft) 0. A Typical Flight — narrative walkthrough
- Safety & Regulatory 1a. Limitations — read before operating
- Glossary & Acronyms
- Platform Overview
- Ground Control Station
- Battery Management
- Flight Operations
- Maintenance & Care
- Payloads & Integration
- Support & Warranty
- Firmware & Software Updates
- Troubleshooting
Part B — Aircraft data
Reference & control
- Document Control & Numbering
- Quick-Reference Checklists (RFD-QRH-001) — printable
- Appendices — full spec tables, configuration parameters (to come)
Revision history
Section titled “Revision history”| Version | Date | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| v0.7 | 28 Jul 2026 | Final owner answers: 12-month warranty, kit contents (2 wing sets, 10 landing gear, 25 R-clips/servo clips, 3 nose bays), RFD Ground Station product (browser GCS, Steam Deck, open API), AEROMed/ISR datasheets, EP450 hover ~18 min. All owner questions closed — release candidate |
| v0.6 | 28 Jul 2026 | Owner answers incorporated (warranty period, serial format, crew-managed datalink policy, temperature bands, 15 m stand-off); Typical Flight walkthrough; read-before-first-flight front matter |
| v0.5 | 28 Jul 2026 | Firmware & Software Updates and Troubleshooting chapters; RFD-QRH-001 checklists; kit contents; log download; GCS laptop readiness |
| v0.4 | 27 Jul 2026 | Failsafe reference & watch/normal/act tables; crack-length repair ladder; post-crash, lost-aircraft & occurrence-reporting procedures; Support & Warranty; CG-mark and data-plate documentation |
| v0.3 | 27 Jul 2026 | Limitations chapter (family + per-aircraft); EP250 performance & W&B; battery air-shipping rules; maintenance schedule, airworthiness limitations & log templates; Service Bulletin register |
| v0.2 | 21 Jul 2026 | Owner feedback: RFD-only branding, document control, EP250 flight data, GCS hardware, payloads, expedited training |
| v0.1 | 21 Jul 2026 | Initial 18-page family manual + training manual build |
Support
Section titled “Support”Rocket Fast Drones Pty Ltd — support@rocketfastdrones.com. See
Support & Warranty.
UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED. The controlled version is maintained by Rocket Fast Drones.